This year, two middle school boys have moved here through the Matsumoto Project’s new homestay-type program.

These boys are staying with host parents in Matsumoto City, while the girls live in the dorm house in the Shiga district.

Since these two boys arrived, it has been a huge excitement for the community.

Everyone in the neighborhood was kind enough to cheer these two on, sometimes bringing them home-cooked dishes. Their arrival has enriched the exchanges in the community, and so it has truly become the best start for Part Two of the “Matsumoto Model”.

These boys have joined after-school sports groups by now, and are smoothly adapting to school as well.

How great, how great♪

Since April, there surprisingly hasn’t been time for the boys to come to the dorm. However, this time Dr. Taneichi, one of our board members, was kind enough to come and conduct the ultrasound thyroid gland scans.

That being the case, the two boys received their scans, and while they were at it, had a gathering at the dorm.

They must have felt relieved and, all being from Fukushima, comfortable with each other; their spirits went way up, and it was hugely exciting. It seems as if there were various conversations about hometown topics.

Then, they made yakisoba together for dinner, and they enjoyed themselves with all their hearts. (^^)

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We have begun the preparations to accept more students during both this school year and next school year.

This term there are two people. For the next school year, we are taking applications for five people (including the two from this year).

To those interested in and concerned with the children’s health, be sure to contact us, please~

Dr. Takeuchi, who is a member of the board of the Matsumoto Project, kindly came to Matsumoto City the day before the general meeting and conducted our ultrasound thyroid examinations.

In order to take advantage of this rare occasion, we invited everyone from the families who evacuated to Nagano as well. Among those who came were the people who still have not undergone a screening or who have not had one in a few years.

Upon hearing the results of the scan, some of the mothers must have felt so relieved that they were even brought to tears.

I think that having the children go through the screening at least once a year and then continuing to observe their condition helps bring the parents peace of mind after all, so we would like to hold the thyroid screenings, as well as general health monitoring, regularly in the future.

Today, we took part in the charity concert hosted by a hometown singer Uekane Ken-san.

One of our girls, “Chiho”, ended up taking the stage and singing in this concert…

To give the whole sequence of events, Uekane Ken-san has always chosen our project to support through his charity concerts.

Last year as well, he made donations to our project with the charity concert proceeds.

At the time we received it, thinking that it would be a good chance to hear thanks directly from the girls, we brought them along.

In the instant that Uekane Ken-san said that “I’m doing the charity concert, and I would like to invite you girls.”, Chiho started saying that “I want to sing too!”.

“Huh? Wh-what are you saying???” said the bewildered Executive Director.

Uekane-san asked “Why do you want to sing?”, and casually asked for Chiho’s feelings.

Chiho told him of her feelings.

The reason is, at the end of last year, there were two boys who wanted to join the Matsumoto project.

But, financially and personnel-wise, this was deemed difficult, and so we ended up giving up on accepting this.

We conveyed this to the girls as well.

For Chiho, a switch flipped.

“I will sing! And then call out for donations there! If we get a lot of money, we’ll be able to start a boys’ dormitory, right~? We will be able to get as many Fukushima children as possible to come here, right? I’ll do it too! I’m singing!” She said.

This executive director was so impressed that he ended up losing his words.

Chiho conveyed her emotions.

It turned out that Uekane-san understood her feelings, and at once gave her a slot…

Once this was a done deal, Chiho made an effort to practice together with Tsubasa-san, a singer.

So that she would not make a mistake in the lyrics, she watched the YouTube video over and over, time and time again to remember them.

And then, today was the real performance!

Chiho, who had not thought about this until the previous day, was a little nervous-looking.

Somehow, Chiho gets hyper while she is getting nervous.

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In order to calm her down, Tsubasa-san did the final adjustments for her.

The real performance! While they were doing stage preparations, Chiho was interviewed by the master of ceremonies!

Chiho was nervous MAX at the fact that there was a huge audience.

Regarding the questions, it was an “Impossible! Impossible! Impossible!” situation.

This is bad…or so I thought, but once she started singing, her nervousness came undone, and she turned out to have a very good signing voice.

The second song was even better!

And then, Chiho read out loud a message to everyone in the audience.

“I have a request for everyone here, and that's why I asked for this opportunity to stand on this stage. I want to get more children from Fukushima to come and study here! To do that, funds are needed. Please assist us.” she said.

Chiho properly conveyed her own feelings despite being that nervous.

It surely may have struck the hearts of everyone in the concert hall.

Their generous applause resounded throughout the entire concert hall.

During the break, the other girls called out to people for donations holding a donation box in order to cheer on Chiho.

“We are the Matsumoto Project! Please help us with our fundraising!” they said.

A lot of people kindly made donations to us.

And they talked to Chiho.

“That was very good!” “Good luck!” “You should be a singer in the future!”

Truly a lot of people made donations to us.

The girls became one in their desires and asked for funds.

Everyone did their best.

The tally still has not come out yet, but I think we gathered over 50,000 yen. (T/N: About $420.)

※When the tally does come out, we will let you know.

A 13-year-old girl challenged herself of her own will, cheered up, and sang wholeheartedly. And also gathered donations.

She is truly wonderful~!

Chiho succeeded in doing something this executive director could have absolutely not done at 13 years old!

“If you make a move, you can make a change.”

She succeeded in doing that!

The already moved executive director’s tears overflowed

Chiho had regained herself this much and grown up a lot.

Chiho, who did not have confidence in herself, who was full of anxieties of the future as well.

She succeeded in doing this within this year!

She kept challenging herself with various things!

And today, her effort may have ripened.

I think that the rest of the girls felt this quite a bit as well.

Everyone supports everyone else.

Looking at the sight of the girls who were helping each other grow, this executive director was deeply moved.

Our effort went through many layers of experience.

Beginning from the previous dorm leader Negishi-kun, Ken-san, Tsubasa-san, and then to Morikawa-san, we have come this far.

We are very thankful to Uekane Ken-san who gave us this chance as well!

Thank you very much.

And so, I was deeply impressed by the wonderfulness of people mutually supporting each other’s growth together as well.

On Saturday February 21st, we visited Matsumoto City’s Norikura Highlands. It is a famous sight-seeing area in the western part of Matsumoto City, located on the border of Gifu Prefecture. Elevation 1200~1500m. (T/N: ~3900 to ~4900 feet.) As it is an environment surrounded by abundant nature, once night falls, the sky is filled with twinkling stars, to the extent that you can see each one in detail. In the spacious meadow, a beautiful clear stream flows, making music as if it were a musical instrument. There is also a ski slope, as well as a hot spring resort with four distinct sources.

The Norikura Association for Building the Future announced a new project to host children from Fukushima in a homestay arrangement in their community (targeting fifth graders in elementary school up until third graders in middle school) starting next school year. They are planning to host two children, so we went to meet with them to discuss this opportunity.

We visited the inn, “Senzan Norikura”, where the Norikura ‘Building the Future’ Conference Association’s office is, and had a talk with Miyazaki-san, the proprietor. Miyazaki-san is the PTA Chairman at the only school in the Norikura district, Oonokawa Elementary and Middle School. I got the impression that he is very gentle, honest, and would be persistent in overcoming difficult problems step by step.

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“I want to revitalize my hometown through the homestay and enrich the future of the children and Norikura.” Miyazaki-san said warmly.

We also visited Oonokawa Elementary and Middle School, where the children doing the homestay would attend. In 1993, there were as many as 153 pupils, but currently there are 25 in both the elementary and middle schools combined. As they are small in number, the students seem to get along well, just like siblings. Speaking of the school facilities, as there is a pool with a roof that opens and closes electronically, spacious grounds, and so many classrooms that the current number of students cannot clean them, there are no complaints. The school principal is also supporting the hosting of the children from Fukushima.

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The entranceway to the elementary school. Right next door is the entranceway to the middle school…

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…with a snowmobile beside it!

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To the right, there is a pool with a roof that opens electrically.

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Going down to the grounds.

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It’s va-ast!

More importantly, the B&B the students would be staying in is a truly lovely place. Miyazaki-san told me that the B&B is called the “Tengaro Hut”. We definitely wanted to visit it, and although we made a sudden visit without an appointment (how troublesome!), the proprietor, Miyashita-san, and his wife nevertheless kindly welcomed us.

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Miyashita-san was kind enough to allow us to freely take a look at the space. In the spacious dining hall, there is a permanent set-up where a band could perform, with things like guitars, a piano, and even a drum set. According to the husband, “It’s no problem to have the children freely play here when there are no customers.” They are really openhearted, calm, and warm. In regards to their hopes for the homestay, they say that a “pair of siblings in the target age range” would be good. The children’s gender combination doesn’t matter. Perhaps, this is the best education environment, so much so that more than this aren’t desired, I wonder. If I were a child I would certainly want to do a homestay!

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The Miyashita couple, who manage the Tengaro Hut.

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This is the dining hall. In the back is the space for band performances…

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…drums, a piano, guitars, and even a PA system are gathered there.

This time, what I felt during my visit to the Norikura Highlands was that the people in Norikura are very warm. I think that surely the abundance of nature has an influence on their personalities, though it is invisible. I am terribly looking forward to seeing what kind of adults the children raised in this wonderful environment will become.

“Norikura Homestay” Contact Information

〒390-1520 4238-1 Azumi, Matsumoto-shi, Nagano-ken

Norikura Association for Building the Future

Secretariat (In Sanzan Norikuma)

tel: ０２６３－９３－２７２７

email: senzan@go.tvm.ne.jp

Contact Information Hours: 10:00am~15:00pm (Weekends Off)

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(The first and last photographs of this article are kindly supplied by Seth McAllister-san of the Norikura Plateau lodging facility “NORTHSTAR”. Thank you very much, Seth-san!)

It aims at providing a place
where the children affected by
the March 2011 disaster can
live, play and study in a safe
environment. The boarding
school type of arrangements
have been set up in the Shiga
district in Matsumoto City.